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Parables · 20 of 45

The Friend at Midnight

On the road to Jerusalem

Luke 11:5–13

Luke 11:5–13

5Then he said to them, "Imagine you go to a friend's house at midnight and say, 'Friend, lend me 3 loaves of bread. 6A friend of mine just showed up from a journey, and I don't have anything to offer him.' 7And your friend calls out from inside, 'Don't bother me. The door is already locked, and my children are in bed with me. I can't get up and give you anything.' 8I tell you, even if he won't get up and give him anything because they are friends, he will get up and give him whatever he needs because of his persistence. 9So I tell you: Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 10Because everyone who asks receives. Everyone who seeks finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. 11If a son asks any of you who is a father for bread, will you give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will you give him a snake instead? 12“Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?” 13So if you, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?

Read Luke 11

About this passage

What the parable says

A man goes to a friend at midnight to borrow three loaves of bread for a guest. The friend does not want to get up, but because the man keeps asking, he gets up and gives him what he needs. Jesus then taught his followers to ask, seek and knock.

Where this fits

One of 45 passages in Jesus' Parables, in the group “On the road to Jerusalem.”

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